Cormorants can be extremely challenging to shoot. When they are swimming,very often the dynamic range (the difference in level between shadow and highlight)is wider than the camera can capture and it requires skill to avoid overexposing the beakor underexposing the shadowed areas. In flight, they move very quickly and there is very littleto focus on as the majority of the bird is dark (cameras require contrast to focus). They can be oneof the most frustrating targets a wildlife photographer can shoot... and one of the most difficult subjects.

This study has 70 images of Cormorants in flight, with prey, takeoffs, portraits and behavioral shots.

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Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.The Banner below leads to the Wildlife Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

A Double-Crested Cormorant in breeding plumage at the beginning of theseason in March, taken in Monterey CA. The bare facial skin is a bright orange,but the characteristic nuptial crests on the forehead have not yet appeared.

Breeding Cormorant X0306 detail

Breeding Cormorant X1174 detail

Detail of Double-Crested Cormorants in breeding plumage. The image at left was taken in Monterey, CA,and the image at right was taken at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in April. As the breeding season progresses,the raised dots around the bright green eye can sometimes turn a brilliant turquoise, as seen in the right image.

Breeding Cormorant X1174 M

A breeding Cormorant at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

Cormorant 0303 M

A non-breeding Cormorant off Sanibel Island, Florida.

Cormorant 1013

A Double-Crested Cormorant at the LA Arboretum. This is one of the very few wildlife images I have taken using a flash. Normally, I shoot with available light, but it was quite dark.

Cormorant X8164

A juvenile Neotropic Cormorant in December. Note the tan neck and the smaller area of yellow facial skin below the eye. The Neotropic Cormorant develops a white edge on the bare gular pouch skin (just becoming visible here).

Cormorant with Prey 0312 M

A non-breeding Double-Crested Cormorant, swimming with prey off Sanibel Island, Florida.Note the sharp dorsal spines on the fish. The Cormorant will flip the prey so it can swallow ithead first to avoid being cut by the spines (as you will see in images shown further below).

A Double-Crested Cormorant hunting at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in April.In the spring, the algae blooms, turning the surface of the pond a reddish-gold.

Cormorant with Prey HS2986

Cormorant with Prey HS2994

The Cormorant caught the fish and brought it up impaled on its bill hook. It tried to turn the fish so it couldswallow it head first, but had to cough the fish back up and start again after nearly dropping it (see below).

Cormorant with Prey HS2996c

A Double-Crested Cormorant with prey at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in April (detail crop).

These images were exceptionally difficult to shoot (exposure issues in late morning light),as well as being very tricky to process and post-process due to the unusual color balancewhich was caused by the reflection of the blue and red light from the algae-covered water.

The Cormorant spent some time juggling the fish to get it faced properly so itcould swallow the fish head-first to avoid the sharp spines (see the images below).

Cormorant with Prey HS3008

Cormorant with Prey HS3009

Cormorant with Prey HS3012

Cormorant with Prey HS3013

Cormorant with Prey HS3027 M

The Cormorant finally got the fish aligned properly and started to swallow it head-first,but had to cough it back up, being careful not to lose the fish by dropping it in the water.

A Japanese Cormorant (Temminck’s Cormorant) in Sankeien Garden in Japan.For over 1000 years, Japanese fishermen have trained these Umi-U (the Japanesename for Sea Cormorants) to fish for them in the ancient tradition known as Ukai.

Cormorant Courtship Behavior 4807

Cormorants during courtship in an unbelievably cute cuddling and neck-intertwining sequence.

Cormorant Courtship Behavior 4802

Cormorant Courtship Behavior 4808

Cormorant Courtship Behavior 4809

Cormorants using their long necks to cuddle during a courtship encounter.

White-Necked Cormorant X5883

The White-Necked Cormorant, or White-Breasted Cormorant in a close portrait.

White-Necked Cormorant Nesting X5873 M

A White-Necked Cormorant nesting. These are very closely related to the Great Cormorant,and the White-Breasted (or White-Necked) Cormorant is often considered a regional variant.

All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide.Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M”in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without a title bar.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.The Banner below leads to the Wildlife Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

A Double-Crested Cormorant drying its wings alongside the Coast Highway just south of Monterey, CA.

Cormorants Highway One 3844

Cormorant Highway One 3854

In the image at left, a late juvenile Double-Crested Cormorant spreads his wings in display.The speckled neck of the displaying Cormorant and the light speckled breast and light wingfeathers of the background bird identify them as juveniles. Adult plumage is uniformly dark.The displaying Cormorant is also growing his nuptial crests above and behind the eyes.

Cormorants Highway One 3845 M

Double-Crested Cormorants and a Pelagic Cormorant in the background atop a rock beside Highway One.The Double-Crested Cormorant is a bit larger and has a thicker bill than the Pelagic Cormorant, as well as alarger area covered by the bare facial and gular skin. The Pelagic has very little bare skin in front of the eyes.

Cormorants Highway One 3852 M

A closer view from a slightly different angle shows the Pelagic Cormorant left of center.The King of the Rock and the others are all Double-Crested Cormorants. Compare the billthickness, the gular skin (attaching the bill to the neck) and super-loral skin (in front of the eye).

Cormorants Highway One 3853c

A resized crop from a similar image to 3852 above, showing detail of the Pelagic Cormorant and the King of the Rock.

Cormorants Highway One 3875

Positions on this desirable rock seem to be flexible. There is a new King of the Rock and the Pelagic Cormorant moved up.

In the image at right above, in the lower left is a Double-Crested Cormorantwhich has its nuptial crests (the defocused white blobs below and behind the eye).

Cormorants Highway One 3868

At left, the current King of the Rock twists his very flexible neck to look at the oncoming interloper.Soon after, he relinquished his spot and a new King of the Double-Crested Cormorants was crowned.

Cormorants Highway One 3873

The new King celebrates his exalted position atop the rock alongside Highway 1.If you look closely, you can see the first feathers of the nuptial crest behind the eye.

These are all juveniles and young adults. Note the speckled breasts(and the light breast of the Cormorant behind the new King of the Rock).

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.The Banner below leads to the Wildlife Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

A Double-Crested Cormorant displaying its brilliant green eye in November at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.Achieving an accurate exposure of a cormorant against a dark background can be quite challenging. The billis easily overexposed, and underexposing to protect the bill risks loss of feather detail and color saturation.

Cormorants Domestic Dispute X5493 M

A male Cormorant gets an earful as he returns home...

Cormorants Feeding in Nest X5520

Not long afterward, all is forgiven and a meal of regurgitated fish is shared.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.The Banner below leads to the Wildlife Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

A 33% reduction of the XXL Flight Study Composite (9300 x 1725) showing six consecutiveimages of a Double-Crested Cormorant in flight at sunset, taken at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

Capturing a properly-exposed image of a Cormorant in flight at sunset is challenging, as the bill andthe bare skin of the lores and gular pouch tend to overexpose easily. It is also difficult to achieve sharp focus on the eye and to track the eye in flight, as Cormorants fly past very rapidly. When everything comestogether perfectly, the result is a rare, properly-exposed and sharp flight sequence as in the image above.

Below are two consecutive images from the center right of this flight study sequence.

Cormorant Flight 1010

Cormorant Flight 1011

Cormorant Flight 1022

A Double-Crested Cormorant in flight at sunset, taken in December just after the Flight Study.

Cormorant Flight 1024

Cormorant Flight X5250

The Cormorant shown above right was taken during a different session, at late afternoon in September.

Cormorant Flight 1106 M

One last shot from the sunset shoot in December. That was an especially prolific session.

Shooting Cormorants in flight can be unbelievably challenging. They fly very quickly, and the normaltechnique of acquiring a focus lock by placing the focusing reticle on the head or wing root do not workvery well, as there is not much contrast for the camera to lock onto. If the head (and eye) is not in focus,the image has little or no value. The best method is to lock on an area where the head meets the sky,but the bird flies so quickly that often it has flown through the depth of field of a long telephoto lensduring the time the shutter is open. It is more difficult when the cormorant is flying towards you,rather than across the field of view, and locking focus is difficult against a dark background.

A Double-Crested Cormorant flies into the sunset at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge in November.

Cormorant Flight 1068

A Cormorant flies low over the water in the golden light before sunset during that marvelous sessionin December which yielded the Flight Study and several other Cormorants in flight displayed on this page.

Cormorant Flight X5086 M

A Double-Crested Cormorant in flight, late in the afternoon in September.

The dark blue-green waters of the pond make this shot extremely difficult.The only way to successfully gain a focus lock and track the bird is to lockonto the bill or the yellow facial skin and keep the reticle on the spot whilepanning with the fast-moving bird as it blazes by you at the speed of light.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.The Banner below leads to the Wildlife Collection where a Gallery can be selected.